Ultimately any redevelopment is going to have to be a compromise. In a perfect world Waitrose would stay, but Wrenbridge have to make the best of the situation they (and we) are presented with. At the end of the day their role is to maximise the value of their asset. On the plus side, that means they bend over backwards to make sure the centre is fully occupied, as it has been to the vast majority of the last 30 years, which is quite an achievement, especially given the retail landscape since 2008.

Steve yes I understand that fully and I'm sure they've analysed the current local market and tried to predict the future however a 70 bed hotel seems strange when our only large hotel (White Horse) closed recently and they've already built another one two miles up the road? The key is going to be whether or not they can attract any decent names to the site which has been a stumbling block for Hertford however as has already been said we're not doing too badly.

#offtopic leo it was because of the Mercury site that I installed 'AdBlock' that stops all of the annoyance - it also counts the number of ads it blocks and the Mercury pages are usually around 25 ads per page. I realise they have to make money but when it stops you reading the page its surely counterproductive? I refuse to look at any of their pages on the mobile site.

I love the place (and so do the vast majority of the people I know), and I'm surprised that there aren't more visitors.

I think that having a Premier Inn will be a benefit, I stay in them quite a lot with work, but also we'll go as a family to a Premier Inn for a weekend away. If there's a Premier Inn in Hertford, I think a fair few people, will come to Hertford and enjoy it, and it will be good for the town.
Hertford is a pretty and interesting town, and is a good night out, pubs for everyone and good restaurants.
The house prices aren't as high as they are without good reason.

I don't think the other very nice independent hotels would be affected too much, I think it would be mainly new business for the Town.

But the whole thing might be scuppered anyway, because, it would seem, the luddites on Folly Island prefer the brutal monstrosity that they currently look at to a thriving cafe area

Golden wrote:Steve yes I understand that fully and I'm sure they've analysed the current local market and tried to predict the future however a 70 bed hotel seems strange when our only large hotel (White Horse) closed recently and they've already built another one two miles up the road? The key is going to be whether or not they can attract any decent names to the site which has been a stumbling block for Hertford however as has already been said we're not doing too badly.

#offtopic leo it was because of the Mercury site that I installed 'AdBlock' that stops all of the annoyance - it also counts the number of ads it blocks and the Mercury pages are usually around 25 ads per page. I realise they have to make money but when it stops you reading the page its surely counterproductive? I refuse to look at any of their pages on the mobile site.

White Horse Hertingfordbury? Say it isn't so!! I was going to come to a decision this week about spending a couple of months in the UK and I was planning to stay there if I could get the time off work. Didn't they plan to do a renovation? What's the other hotel further up the road?

Smudger wrote:But the whole thing might be scuppered anyway, because, it would seem, the luddites on Folly Island prefer the brutal monstrosity that they currently look at to a thriving cafe area

I think you may be overrating the influence Folly Island has on planning matters. Like everyone else the residents views are taken into account and if submitted the consensus view from the Residents Association. Personally I would rather look at a modern frontage with appropriate landscaping. Everyone I have spoken to on technical matters has said that if built today any development would front the river such as the first outline plans showed. The application in any form actually only affects those on Riverside directly; the river and the river walk are hidden from the rest of us. Can't speak for anyone else but I do know what i would prefer personally and for Hertford.

I think the chance to modernise the whole riverside setting has now gone, along withe any hope of dismantling or addressing the ugliness of the car park so to a lesser extent the pile of bricks will remain. There were flats intended to be above the anchor food store but these have also been discarded in favour of the existing architecture which along with the whole of Bircherley Green is 35 years old. In effect we have the worst of all worlds. The whole scheme now seems to have been watered down, fewer retail outlets and the anchor tenant a hotel, not a supermarket.

I say all this with great suspicion because the Library was meant to front the river as well and river craft able to moor up outside - according to the artists impression anyway. Earth was piled up and foliage planted on it so no chance of any mooring. So much for the Riverside Yards Project - now history.